Vehicle seat



Patented Mar. 28, 1950 VEHICLE SEAT Harold Radford, London, England,assignor to Harold Radford & Company Limited, London, England, a bodycorporate of Great Britain Application August 7, 1947, Serial No.767,191 In Great Britain May 14, 1947 1 Claim.

This invention relates to vehicle seats with more especial reference toseating arrangements for dual purpose, station wagon or utility bodiedmotor vehicles convertible for passenger carrying or for the transportof goods or livestock.

One object of the invention is to provide an improved instantlyconvertible arrangement affording comfortable seating on the one handand an extended continuous flat surface on the other when goods orlivestock are to be carried. Further and favourable objects will appearfrom the following description.

In the improved vehicle seating arrangement according to the invention,the seat squab foundation is formed with a flat underface and is pivotedat its front edge while the back squab is similarly formed with a flatrear face and is pivotally mounted at its lower edge so that when theseat squab has been swung forwardly about its pivot the back squab maybe pivotally moved or folded to take its place.

In a preferred embodiment of folding seat arrangement for a dual purposeutility body, two benches or rows of seats are mounted in the deckingaforementioned, each adapted to take three persons abreast.

The seat squab panels and back panels are rectangular and of equal sizefor each bench, those for the front bench being divided so that anindividual seat may remain erected while the remainder is folded or viceversa. When the front bench is swung forwardly about its pivotal axis,it leaves a well in the deck into which the back squab may then be swungto take its place, and similarly when the seat squab of the back benchis swung forwardly it covers in the foot well and the aperture it leavesin the deck is then filled by swinging the back forwardly about itspivotal mounting, the whole arrangement when folded providing a flatload carrying surface or deck.

The seat frames may be constructed of wood, metal or other appropriatematerial, and the squabs may be sprung and upholstered in leather orother suitable material.

Reference will now be had to the accompanying drawings where Figs. 1 and2 are perspective views of the preferred embodiment respectively in thefolded goods carrying condition, and partly open in the process ofconversion to passenger carrying.

In the drawings 5 represents the floor of the vehicle body behind thedriving seat or bench and 2 is a horizontal decking of wood carriedwithin the body and having a curved front wall 3 also of wood dependingto the floor -l.

The decking 2 mounts front and rear folding benches, the front bench.being divided and its seats being independently foldable. Each seat orbench consists of a hinged seat squab panel or foundation 4 and a hingedback squab panel or foundation 5. The front bench seat foundations arehinged at E5 to the front edge of a transom I level with the decking atthe top of the front wall 3 and in the folded position shown in Fig. 1rest on a support 8 to form a horizontal continuation of the decking.

The front bench back squab foundations 5 are hinged at 3 to a transomIii at deck level and between the transoms l and It is a rectangularWell in the decking which, in the goods carrying condition shown in Fig.1, is closed by the rectangular seat back foundations 5, the latterfolding flush with the decking and resting on flanges E l The transom itis centrally supported by a metal frame it and behind it there is arectangular well 55 in the decking to accommodate the legs of the rearpassengers, as is clearly shown in Fig. 2.

The back bench seat squab foundation 4 is hinged at l6 to a transom lland, as shown in Fig. 1, folds flush with the deck to form a hatch orcover for the well i5, while in rear of the transom H is anotherrectangular well in the decking which in the folded condition of thebody is closed by the back squab foundation 5 pivoted at it to a reartransom it, and in the passenger carrying condition shown in Fig. 2, iscovered by the back bench seat foundation l which hinged at it in themanner aforementioned.

26 represents the seat squabs and 2f the back squabs, which in thefolded position pass into the wells, so that a continuous, uninterruptedload carrying surface or deck is provided as shown in Fig. 1. On theother hand, by opening up "16 squab foundations t and 5 about theirhinges, the body is instantly converted for passenger carry- It will beappreciated that single bench or multibench units may be'producedaccording to the body space available and that a continuous fiat loadcarrying surface or deck is obtained in all cases. I

By the present invention an improved and convenient seating arrangementfor dual purpose vehicle bodies is obtained which can be instantlyconverted to an extended flat load carrying deck.

What I claim is:

A seating arrangement for dual purpose station wagons of the kinddefined, comprising a decking having side components and longitudinallyspaced transoms extending between and flush with said side componentswith wells in the decking between the transoms, seat squabs hingedlyconnected to alternate transoms, and back squabs hingedly connected tointermediate transoms, each of said squabs being supported in seatingposition entirely on the transom connected thereto, said squabs beingforwardly pivotable from said seating position to a position in whichthey cover the wells, and support means for the squabs in saidwellcovering position so that foundations'of said squabs form with thetransoms and side components of the decking a 10 continuous fiat loadcarrying surface, said support means being below said surface.

HAROLD RADFORD.

REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Stratton Feb.12, 1895 McLean "May '7, 1895 Buff Mar. 2, 1909 Troke May 2, 1922Augustine Aug. 26, 1941

